>> reporter: without humans inside the car, gurtis has let it run wild, reaching 130 miles an hour. the car even raced up colorado's pikes peak all by itself. >> so you studied how race car drivers would do this and taught the car to do that? >> a very big part of this project is understanding how the very best drivers control the car. >> reporter: gurtis and his team actually get inside the mind of race car owner and driver. >> we operate at a subconscious level. i sometimes use the term reflex behavior, thinking you're going too close. >> reporter: he's trying to build the quick reflexes into the software that keeps shelly on the road and can make her a safer driver than many of us. >> if they steal enough stuff from your brain, do you think they can teach a computer to drive as well as you can drive? >> when it's all done, they'll be better than i am. >> here's the cool part. the cars are street legal here in california now, by law, as long as a human is along for the ride in case anything goes wrong. >> well, if they could program somebody to kick a field goal, who will the 49er